truly, maddly, deeply

This is it until the new year, now it's all about friends, family, food and fanfare...

[Geek Chic]
At the CCA - Actions: What You Can Do With the City - a fantastic exhibition on social, environmental, artististic, political contexts and activity in urban environments.

[Creatively speaking]
After happening upon his work in a small town in Nova Scotia, turns out Zane Turner is in Montreal and his work is being shown at Espace B51, a fantastic contemporary gallery on St. Paul.

[Heard]
Via Barcelona, discovered Pablo Diaz-Reixa, the man behind El Guincho, album is El Guincho Alegranza.

[Pages]

I desire a little ruby wine and a book of verses,
Just enough to keep me alive, and half a loaf is needful;
And then, that I and thou should sit in a desolate place
Is better than the kingdom of a sultan.
Edward Heron-Allen (1861-1943) translated from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

[Up Next]
December things get crafty at the Souk and Petits Pains

[Yum]


[Travels]
Dervla Murphy - traveller and writer, just a few interesting bits here:

In the midst of a record-setting blizzard in 1963, Dervla Murphy packed a pistol aboard Roz, her Armstrong Cadet bicycle and set off on her first international bicycle tour - a completely self-supported solo trip from Ireland to India. In Yugoslavia, she began keeping a journal instead of mailing letters home. That journal was later published as her first book Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle, in which, she describes her adventures through Persia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. She particularly enjoyed Afghanistan and wrote lovingly of that country.

most recent book is about Cuba...

Trivial Pursuits...

[Geek Chic]
From Greece, a campaign for a chocolate bar - "Love at first site" is a 17 minute interactive film, shot on the Greek island of Paros, and in Athens. [via Adverblog]

[Creatively speaking]
Saw Sympathy for the Devil - this passage sums it up well:

"It is interesting to explore music that was once so defiantly counter-cultural in the intellectual setting of an art museum. By inspiring contemporary artists today, the music takes on new meaning as a part of our cultural history. While times have changed, the ideas of the rock movement are still present. It is a fairly new anomaly that today’s youth actually looks to music of the past rather than what is being created today, citing Led Zeppelin, Queen and the Rolling Stones among their favorite music artists. We’re also familiar with contemporary artists taking a cue from the past with musical rifts sampled from songs that topped the charts years ago resurfacing in current pop hits... " Megan Driscoll, Big, Red & Shiny.

[Scene]
Fugitive Pieces - beautiful film based on the novel
The Visitor - strong performances - story of "illegals" and their relationship to a New Yorker

[Heard]
Discovered Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría - through the track "mama papa tu" (Afro-American Latin (1969) fantastic stuff that will inspire many a dance...

[Pages]
The Line of Beauty - Alan Hollinghurst

BottomFeeder - Taras Grescoe

[Up Next]
CCA - Actions: What You Can Do With the City

The Rover [launch] is an independent review of the arts

[Yum]
On the heels of Marché 27, opening uptown is Greasy Spoon, adding a little more diversity into the Laurier W stretch...

Bits and Passes...

[Geek Chic]
This just in/box: The Rover is an independent review of the arts - and they are launching this month...

Just finished 'soul bits' which means 'common sense' is now in the gallery...

[Creatively speaking]
CBC ran a program this morning on Cloé St-Marie et Gilles Carles - I'm not a huge folk fan, but her voice and how she carries the poetry of her collaborators is good, here's a song/video...

[Scene]
John and Beatrice - summary here. Not one of my favourites, but an interesting concept.

[Heard]
Monthly dance-fest The Goods is still at Sala Rossa, this month mix of 60-70's soul/funk/afrobeat with some old-school De La Soul thrown into the mix. Great way to bust a move. Love the venue but the sound was crap (shows are usually better), oh, and patchouli - yes, it is still around.

[Pages]
Une Vie Francaise - Jean-Paul Dubois

"A French Life was successful in France because it was just that: it held a mirror up to a nation. Paul's running commentaries on current events may sound like the rants of a barfly, but they are believable. (...) The question is, can the novel have universal appeal ? Despite an elegant translation into (American) English, this is dubious. The characters, with the possible exception of the narrator, are mere shadows." - Henri Astier, Times Literary Supplement

we'll see...

[Up Next]
Down Dangerous Passes Road
Talisman Theatre presents the Montreal English-language premiere of Down Dangerous Passes Road by award-winning author Michel Marc Bouchard, translated by Governor General award-winner Linda Gaboriau.

[Yum]
Finally made it to L'Atelier which is now byob. Inventive menu, nice ambience and service. The only weakness from the table was desserts, but by then we were too full to really care.

[Trails]
Have some pics from recent trip to Colorado - incredibly beautiful and anxious to return for some champagne powder...

The rolling hills of Vermont are beckoning, with the usual blend of hippies and republicans that make it oh so interesting...